


Truth Will Out!

by slythiewrites



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 20:24:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13888476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slythiewrites/pseuds/slythiewrites
Summary: Hermione decides that she doesn't want to pretend anymore.





	Truth Will Out!

4\. Something you don’t ship 

Hermione sat behind her desk, absently stretching the accordion of sticky-notes she had made over the span of the afternoon. Day after day she spent thinking about her choices. Was she happy where she was? Yes. Could she be happier? Well, the answer to that was why Hermione was sitting behind her desk thinking over her life instead of looking over important documents. It felt terrible to admit but she couldn't focus on house elves right now.

Not when her whole life was about to burst into flames. Not when she was preparing to rock the boat that had floated in tepid waters for most of their lives. No. Hermione could stand to look over another poor creature's case until she sorted out her own.

Hermione dropped the sticky note slinky and reached across the desk to the picture frame that had laid face down like it'd been knocked over. It hadn't. Earlier in the day she had, turned it down, trying to avoid their stares. Both children. Her husband. Her husband, the blundering idiot that made it through classes with her on his heels. Her husband, who quit an amazing job as an auror to work at the joke shop with his brothers.

The idiot.

She loved him, of course. Ronald will always hold a special place in her heart but Hermione couldn't, wouldn't hide it anymore. Hermione arranged for her mother to keep the children overnight since it was their break during the summer. It would be much easier for her to have the talk with him if Rose wasn't sneaking out of bed every ten minutes for a hug. What would she say to him? How would he react?

Before she knew it the work day was over. Hermione stepped into her fireplace and threw the floo powder down, naming her home. The blur of color and feelings was over as soon as it started and Hermione was standing just inside the fireplace on her home. She could see her husband was home, as his coat slumped over a chair that had been pushed from the table, his dress shoes that he wore to work sitting in front of the chair. His tie was crumpled on the table besides a few candy wrappers and the newspaper. The shower ran in the bathroom.

Hermione sighed, and resolved to clean it up after- 

What would happen after?

She didn't have time to consider an answer, because Ronald was stomping down the hallway, shaking his wet hair as he went, splattering droplets of water onto the picture frames that lined the walls. Hermione hadn't heard him shut the shower off, and thusly felt completely off guard though he came blundering down the hall unaware of her presence.

Hermione cleared her voice and Ron looked up at her sheepishly.

“Ahh, when'd you come in ’Mione?”

“Just in time to see you watering the walls again.” Her voice was tense and Ronald noticed immediately.

“What's wrong?” He asked, cocking his head to the side in a way that, at the moment she couldn't fathom, used to make her laugh.

Besides the way you're dripping across the carpet?

“I’m not in love with you anymore.”

She clasped her hands to her mouth, shocked at the way the words slipped from her lips. No buffer. No small talk. Just the point.

Ron slipped into the chair beside him.

“I-- I’m sorry, what was that?” He asked, frowning and staring at the table.

“You heard me… correctly the first time.”

Ronald nodded, fiddling with his fingers at the table. Whatever Hermione expected. His silence was not it. She stood there for a moment, in the middle of the living room, just off to Ron’s right. She was closer to the fireplace than she was the table, and she wished she could just get back into it and go.

“It's… I felt it for a long time now. It's just weird to hear you say it aloud, I guess. Ron chuckled despite himself.

The situation was truly not funny.

“You knew?” Hermione was mortified.

Ron nodded and looked up at her, his eyes were wet, but not spilling just yet. “Something changed between Hugo and Rose. I had figured maybe I was imagining things, but it never changed. There was always this weird thing between us.”

Hermione nodded. Had it really been that long?

“What do we do now?”

At this, Hermione crossed the room and sat in the seat across from him. She wanted to reach out, hold his hand and provide some comfort, but that was probably inappropriate considering.

“We figure everything out before we tell the kids. I imagine one of us will have to move…”

“You're moving out, too? Well can't we just wait until they're both in school? Rose is on her way and-”

Hermione shook her head, staring at the table.

“I can't wait any longer.”

“Is there someone else?” Ron asked, still looking straight at her.

“Me. I deserve to be happy, and if you've known this long then you deserve happiness too. No use prolonging this anymore when we both know,” 

Ronald nodded and took a deep breath.  
“Right. You're right. I'm, uh, going to take a walk er somethin.” Ronald stood up abruptly. 

The sound of the chair scraping across the floor made her cringe a little, but she nodded, though he couldn't see with his back turned towards her. He stepped into the fireplace and tossed it down. She couldn't hear it, but she was positive he was off to Harry’s, which was good. He would need a friend right now.

She stayed in her chair and fiddled with the crumpled tie he'd left lazing about the table. Hermione felt accomplished underneath all that sadness. She had just ended her marriage, with no arguing or fits. Ron wasn't prone to reacting through anger, but she again had expected a some sort of scene. She sighed and tossed the phone across the table. 

Under it, she realized there was a card, addressed to her. She recognized Ron’s messy writing and frowned slightly as she opened it. It wasn't close to their anniversary. There was no cause coming to celebrate. She wondered if she should still open it anyway.

She did. Hermione opened the card to find a picture of a very ugly cat, not unlike her Crookshanks. The cat held a very sour look and she couldn't help but smile. When the flipped to the insides Ron’s had written just a few words.

“Just because I love you.” 

Hermione put the card down on the table and leaned back in her chair. She had just ended her marriage.

**Author's Note:**

> "Truth will out-" is one of my favorite Arthur Weasley quotes. I am terrible at naming things so I went with something easy.
> 
> Anyway, the prompt for this was "something you don't ship", and it took me a few days to decide what I was going to write about. I really wanted to write (redacted) but I am saving him for (redacted).
> 
> I don't ship Hermione and Ron at all. Idfag what J.K. Rowling says, for Hermione to have been written as a strong feminist character she gave him the most git of a husband who did the least emotional maturing the entire series. Where dey do dat at? Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. :)


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